Dark Energy: Citadel
by Melaradark
Summary: The events of the Citadel DLC- mission and party- set in the Dark Energy version of the Mass Effect universe. Del Shepard returns once again in this left-of-canon, untold chapter of her story, and the war she gave everything of herself to win.
1. Chapter 1

A/N:

So…surprise!

I have finally reached the 'acceptance' stage of grief regarding the endings of the ME games, and for the first time since it came out, I have picked up ME3 again and did another full run through. Several friends have been very…_insistent (much love, you know who you are)…_that I try and play through the Citadel DLC. So, I finally caved and did so.

Which turns out to be good (or bad) for all you fine folks, because this is the result!

These are the way the events of the Citadel DLC- mission and party- would have likely played out had they actually been included in DE3. I cannot claim this is actual DE canon as it doesn't quite fit into DE3's course of events (conflicts with Traynor, some elements of Shiva, timeline, etc), so consider it as you will. Is it an AU so incredibly close to DE3 canon that these events are literally the only difference between the universes? Just a fun 'what if'? Or maybe you can figure out a way to fit it into your head canon with DE3 in a way that works for you? Have at it!

It will, like everything else DE, be a bit left of canon. Also, I cannot say right now how long or short it will be. At the moment, the plan is to continue this and DE5 simultaneously, posting at least one chapter per week on each, minimum. If it comes down to I can only post one chapter on one story in a given week, that will automatically default to being a chapter for DE5. I cannot justify putting that on hold for this.

But…like many of you, I am already missing Del. This will be a nice chance for us to revisit her again.

As usual, I write with the understanding that the reader has played through ME at least once, and the Citadel DLC at least once. I do not apologize for spoilers.

Please, enjoy!

* * *

**Dark Energy: Citadel**

* * *

The river was slightly swollen due to rains in the high mountains, but not far enough to creep much closer to her boots than it did on other days she had sat on this rock.

The rock itself was long and low, and not truly a natural formation. Given this was a nature preserve, the rangers and conservationists were extremely careful that even manmade objects within it were more or less impossible to discern from natural phenomenon- at least as far as the animals were concerned. Benches, like this one, were molded rock. Campgrounds had hidden lights and mosquito grids secreted in artificial trees so lifelike a camper had to use their omni-tool to locate and activate the nearest one. Even trash receptacles were disguised as old stumps, or clumps of brush.

The nature preserve edged up on the grounds to her school and the base, and much like her parents, the young asari often turned to the natural in order to find serenity and peace when she was much troubled. This small campground was usually deserted, easy to reach, and provided a perfect base for her to soak in the stillness of life when she desperately needed it most.

She almost didn't hear the soft boot steps moving down the path behind her. With the slightly more enthusiastic rumble of the river and the singing birds far ahead in the trees, the sound wasn't nearly loud enough to draw her attention. In truth, she probably wouldn't have noticed at all, if the birds hadn't suddenly fallen silent.

She didn't look around, still watching the foaming dance of the water in front of her. A gentle hand landed on her shoulder, and cloth rustled as a body settled in next to her. Another shift, the faint snap of a lighter, then the rich smell of cigar smoke momentarily overwhelmed the odor of pine and sod.

Then, the clink of glass, and a bottle was held in her view. She looked at it with mild surprise, then looked at the person offering it.

Del Shepard smiled slightly. "Just don't tell your mother."

Melara took the bottle of beer with a mute nod, cracking it open. Beside her, Del pulled out a second bottle from a small thermal case she had set down beside her, and did the same, taking a healthy swallow. "Ah. Good stuff. Go on, Pain. It won't bite you."

Mel sniffed at the mouth of the bottle, wrinkling her nose a little, before taking a taste. When her expression didn't change, Del lifted a brow.

"Most people don't taste their first beer and like it," she said.

Mel shrugged weakly. "It is no worse than your cooking."

"Oh really?" Del scoffed with a faint grin. When Mel returned it she nudged her with her shoulder. "Guess who's walking home now?"

Mel just shrugged again, took another tip of the beer. It honestly tasted like nothing to her…not that she really would have noticed. Her thoughts were a year in the past, and had been all morning.

It had been here that she'd found Bethayla, agitated and pacing, fighting against a torrent inside of her that she neither understood nor could control. It had been a year ago, today, that Mel had watched Beth walk out of the hospital with the Justicar, watching her head toward a life she had never planned for or expected, trying to come to terms with the idea that every thought she'd had of the future had just melted away like ice under a desert sun- banished forever by a cruel trick of biology.

Mel knew why Del had tracked her down. Her father knew what day it was as well as she did. She also knew that Del would not bring it up, not unless Melara indicated she wanted to talk about it.

_She knows this is something no words can fix_, she thought. _She knows nothing can be said that hasn't been already._

She was suddenly, deeply, incredibly grateful for her father. Del understood that sometimes, the only thing that could be done to help was to just be there.

Watching the water rush along as her father silently smoked beside her, Melara suddenly wanted her mind to be anywhere else. Glancing over at Del, she measured the human woman silently for a while.

To the galaxy, Del Shepard may have been a legend and a hero. To Melara, she'd only always ever just been 'Bába'. Now in her late fifties, Shepard's hair had started to go silver. A streak of it had always been silver, to Mel's memory-the result of a close shave with a bullet- but now the streak was starting to slowly expand, taking over more territory as new pale strands appeared elsewhere in the black.

The left side of her face, the side now closest to Mel as they sat in silence, was marked with burn scars- faint, perhaps, but unmistakable. Mel had seen pictures of her father from when she was much younger, of course- before she had those scars, when her hair was solidly black. Back when she was young, powerful, cocksure.

That was before the war.

Those scars-and ones that could not be seen carried on the flesh-were eternal records of her father's life. She carried them not only proudly, but insistently, bearing the road map of what she had been through and what she had survived like badges of honor.

_I suppose I have my own scars now_, Melara thought. _The ones inside hurt the worst I think._

Her thoughts drifted a while, pondering her father and her scars. Through it, Del just silently smoked and watched the river, occasionally taking sips of her beer, but not intruding on her youngest daughter's silence. Then Melara looked at her again.

"I'm angry," she said, as evenly and as calmly as if she had just announced she'd kind of like a snack.

"You've got a right to be," Del told her.

"This kind of anger though…it's strange. It has no target. No direction. I cannot be angry at Beth…what happened was not her fault. It was not _anyone's_ fault…it was just..."

"Bad luck."

"Not even that. I heard you tell Irie once when her dress was ruined because of a sudden rainstorm. She got so mad, and you told her-"

"Can't get mad at the ocean just for being an ocean," Del nodded.

"Yes, exactly. But that is what I am. I am angry at the 'ocean'. I can't do anything about it, but I can't stop hurting either. I don't like feeling this way."

"No one does, kiddo. If I could take it away, I would."

"I know you would, but…it makes me wonder."

"About what?"

"If Beth hadn't been Ardat-Yakshi…my life would be different now. _I_ would be different. I wouldn't be angry for one. My future, my whole life from here on out, would be different."

"Yeah."

"But is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"I'm not exactly following you, Mel."

"Well, you. Look at you," Melara said, looking intently at her father. Her brows were set stubbornly, the look on her face the same as she always got when trying to solve a particularly puzzling problem. "I know how you grew up. No parents, living on the streets, fighting just to find food. Losing Paul. Torfan. Then all the people you lost in the war and before…how you tried to get people to listen to you, to warn them, but they made fun of you or just ignored you. That all made you really angry, didn't it?"

"Unbelievably angry," Del said with a nod. "At times, destructively so."

"But you learned to harness and channel it, to use it to your advantage."

"I did what I had to do. Not only to survive, but to be able to look at myself in the mirror."

"Yeah, I guess. What's funny is- all that stuff you went through, all that anger you felt…you wouldn't be the person you are today if you hadn't had it, right? I wonder what you would be like if you'd never gone through all that stuff you had to go through. It was all so horrible, but in the end so much good came out of it. Am I selfish because…I mean, should I try and understand that good can come out of the pain and anger I'm feeling right now? That something far in the future will…will somehow be _better_, all because I lost Bethayla, because of this pain I'm feeling now? Is it terrible for me to even think that losing Beth might be in any way a good thing, eventually?"

"I can't answer that for you, Mel. Can bad things be turned into good things? Sure. Can pain and anger be turned into the motivation needed to accomplish what you never thought possible? Yes, they can. I can tell you that. What I _can't_ tell you is if the hurt you feel right now will birth that in the future. Only you can determine that. You have to make a choice. Are you going to take that anger and hurt and try and use it to your advantage, or…well, or not?"

Mel made a sound, a faint huff, and looked toward the water. "Doesn't feel like it. Right now, the only thing it's motivating me to want to do is punch a tree."

Del chuckled softly and nodded. "Yeah, I know that feeling well. I recommend against it. Hurts like a bitch."

There was silence for a long while, then Mel said, "I guess it could go both ways."

"How so?"

"Maybe things wouldn't have worked out if you hadn't been through all that pain- maybe the war would have been lost. But we don't know, right? It could go both ways. Maybe, if you hadn't gone through all that…maybe it would have been won faster. Maybe it could have worked out better. You could have done everything you did, but without dragging that anger and hurt along with you every step. We just don't know. _I_ just don't know. Even if I turn this into something good…how will I know I couldn't have been even better without it? Right now, that's all I can think. Everything would be so much better if this hadn't happened. I could be…Beth and I could be happy. We could have been great together. I wouldn't have this hurt. I wouldn't be so mad. I feel like this is going to hurt forever. How could I _not_ be a better person without this hurting-I…?" She suddenly gasped, then ducked her head. "I'm sorry Bába…"

"For what, sweetheart?" Del asked softly.

She shook her head. "I'm just…I'm just trying to figure all this out. I…I mean, I love you, Bába. You're amazing. I didn't mean to imply that you are lacking…that somehow you would be better if you hadn't gone through what you did-"

"Hey, shh. I didn't take it that way, Mel." Del put her arm around her daughter's shoulder and hugged her briefly. "I knew what you meant."

"I just-"

"I know. Would it have been _easier_ for me to do the things that I did if I didn't have the childhood I had? Maybe. At times, probably definitely…but I suspect, on the whole, things would have really been much, much worse."

"You do?"

"Yeah. I do. My anger gave me a reason to focus, to fight. It gave me drive, determination. I knew how to control it. How to use it. My childhood taught me perseverance, tenacity. It taught me the drive to fight, deep inside. Without my anger, I don't know if I could have accomplished that. I don't know if I would even have made it as a marine. Just to get through boot, I had to take my anger and…"

"Make it your bitch?"

Del barked a started laugh. "_Melara!"_

The wan smile her daughter gave her was more than enough to forgive the mild transgression. She shook her head, giving her another squeeze.

"Yes, well. That's as may be. Thing is, we don't know…and we _can't_ know."

Releasing her daughter again, she drew out a second cigar, having dumped the spent butt of the first into the dregs of her beer.

"No, we can't," Melara said wearily.

"But…one thing I _do_ know for a fact. Without my past-the bad _and_ the good-I would have been a colossal, self-centered, weasley little jackass."

"_What?_ I do _not_ believe that!" Melara said, surprised. "You're a _good_ person, Bába! Why would you even think such a thing?"

"I don't think it, I know it."

"You can't possibly know that! It's ridiculous. I'd sooner believe that…that Uncle Grunt could be a ballet dancer, than you being self-centered or…or _weasley_."

Del roared with laughter at the thought of Grunt doing ballet. Shaking her head with a grin she said, "I notice you didn't include the 'jackass' part in your disbelief."

"C'mon Bába! You know I meant that too. You are not a jackass."

"I have my moments," Del said, still grinning. "Still, I'm not kidding. I know for a fact that's what I would be."

Mel scoffed. "How can you possibly know that?"

"Well, if you've got a little while, I'll tell you. That is, if you can stomach listening to yet another 'war story'."

She was teasing her of course. While Irie would listen, sometimes intently, she had only so much patience with hearing stories from the war from her parents. She'd heard most of them a million times- not just from Del and Liara, but from the news media, from school, and from the seemingly endless list of honorary aunts and uncles that had fought alongside them in the war.

Melara, on the other hand, _never_ got tired of hearing them. While she had a lot of them memorized she would still hang on every word, as intent and awestruck as if hearing the story for the first time, instead of the millionth.

"I think I could manage to sit through one," Melara said, then shook her head. "I think I've heard them all though, and I don't remember one that would even partly explain how you could know what you say you know."

"I'm pretty sure you haven't heard this one. You wouldn't have shut up about it for months, if you had. You ever hear the name 'Maya Brooks'?" she asked. Mel slowly shook her head.

Del grinned. "Then you definitely haven't. You comfortable? It's a long story."

"I am fine. I wasn't planning on going anywhere else much today anyway."

"All right, fair enough. Ok then, let's see…" Del chewed the end of her cigar a moment, gathering her thoughts, before she looked at the river.

"It was near the end of the war. We were on the _Normandy_, still trying to do what we could to get resources for the Crucible and rally the other species. In fact, we'd just left Rannoch a few days before, and the ship was in need of some repairs. Communications with Earth had finally been somewhat established, even if they were still a bit spotty. Round about that time, we'd get data packages of messages in surges. The crew was running ragged, and every packet from home was hope that someone would hear from family…they were like gold. I remember being surprised this time that one of the messages was to me from Anderson- and it wasn't exactly war business."

"What was it?"

"Well, it seems he had this _apartment…_"

* * *

"He wants you to take his apartment?" Liara asked. She and Del were standing behind Joker at the helm, watching as he brought them in to dock at the Citadel.

"That's what the man said," Shepard told her. "I didn't even know he _had_ an apartment on the Citadel. I certainly don't know why he would even be concerned about something like that at the moment. With everything happening on Earth, everything happening up _here_-"

"Perhaps that is why," Liara told her. "He knows the strain you are under, and he most certainly has read the mission reports from Rannoch by now. Having a quiet place to retreat to every now and again…perhaps he thought it would help."

"I have the Nest."

"The Nest is still on the ship. You can be far more easily interrupted there."

"Well, he shouldn't be concerned about my strain," Del told her. "Hell, compared to what he and everyone on Earth is going through right now, fighting every minute just to stay alive…I can't lounge around on the Citadel while millions on Earth are lucky to see a few minutes shut-eye on hard concrete floor."

Liara looked at her love. "If I remember correctly, Hackett ordered the _Normandy_ into dry-dock for the next several days- both to repair the damage from Rannoch, but also to complete the upgrades and retrofits. Did he not also order the entire crew to shore leave while the work was being done? I am pretty sure you are part of the crew."

Del scowled, glancing over at her. "How do you know that?"

"I have a few small errands I must run first- I need to put the finishing touches on a few resource allocations in Turian space. However afterward, I would be more than happy to meet you at the apartment. We can tour it together."

"Li," Del said, as the asari turned to head back toward the CIC. "Did you read my mail?"

"I do not know to what you could be referring, Shepard," Liara said, not pausing.

"You read my mail!"

Li cast a coy look back. "I should be there in about ninety minutes. My errands shouldn't take long."

"You Shadow Brokered me? I can't believe it! You're not supposed to Shadow Broker me!"

Liara just lifted a brow, then vanished into the CIC. Shepard threw up her hands.

"I don't believe it."

"You don't?" Joker said, looking around his chair. "C'mon, even most normal couples peek through each others' mail, you know? Read each other's diaries? You had to know dating the Shadow Broker would only be worse."

"Joker, I'm not in the mood."

"Yeah, I know; that's part of the problem."

"Joker-" Her tone was warning.

"What? All I'm saying is, this entire war depends on you-and no offense, but you look like the ragged end of a varren. You're exhausted, you're stressed, and if you don't take a breather soon you're going to crack. When you do, I'm fairly certain it isn't going to be pretty and I don't particularly want the backsplash landing on me. I mean, you _were_ just nearly blown up by friendly fire and ended up spaced-_again._ And that was right before you had to fight through virtual geth reality and face a damn reaper on foot. _Alone._ I don't know about you, but that by itself would land most folks in the hospital having a nervous breakdown. So do everyone a favor, all right? Take a few damn days. The ship isn't going to be able to go anywhere. Spend time with Liara. Spend time with Tali. Drink a few hundred beers and smoke a few cases of cigars, and get your focus back."

"I'm just fine. I can handle it."

"Yeah, well, if you can't your crew are going to be the ones to pay for it. Not to mention everyone counting on you to pull us through this."

"Joker has a logical point-"

"_Thank_ you EDI."

"- and Liara is correct. We _are_ under orders. It would be unlike you to disobey a direct order from your superior."

"_Jesus fuck."_ Del pinched the bridge of her nose. "Fine. As soon as we're docked and the retrofit crews are on board, clear the crew for shore leave. I'll be…in an _apartment_, apparently. Drinking a few hundred beers and pretending the war doesn't exist…just like everyone _else_ on the Citadel."

"You really are a downer," Joker said dryly. Shepard glared at him, then headed off. He half turned and called after her. "Hey, I think I'm going to stay aboard ship, help out with some of the upgrades-"

"_No_, Joker. If I've got to be on shore leave, _everyone_ has to be on shore leave. That includes you."

"I don't trust those engineering crews. If I'm not here they could do anything to my baby-"

"Shore leave or I toss you in the brig!" She yelled back, before vanishing into the CIC. He turned back around with an irritated sigh.

"_Fantastic."_


	2. Chapter 2

Anderson's message had been fairly lengthy, and slightly wandering. Del had seen far too many of those particular kind of letters before…written by other soldiers. Some, she'd even written herself.

They were the kind of letters you wrote when you finally had a moment to sit down and wanted to send a light-hearted word off to family while you had a chance. You intended them only to be short and happy, the 'I'm doing ok, love and miss you' kind of things, but the weight of the battlefield, time, and exhaustion conspired against you to make them long, rambling missives-the weary philosophy of the trenches.

Anderson started off talking about his apartment and her taking a load off. Fairly straight forward-and if not 'light-hearted', at least the tone was of optimism. Then he started talking about how Kahlee had wanted to settle down there after the war, and about some of the things he was seeing and dealing with on Earth and some of the regrets that the soldiers and civilians had about their lives. The line that had struck Del the most kept echoing in her mind as she wandered through an arcade mall looking for the address.

_The more I stay on Earth, the less I want to leave._

She had been forced to leave at the start of the Reaper attack. Instead of being able to stay and fight, she had to go, leave them all behind. It was for a damned good reason, of course- to rally help and find a way to actually end the Reapers- but that hadn't made it any easier to do. She could not imagine if she had _stayed,_ been there fighting in the trenches this whole time.

If she had, once the war had been won, she probably would never have wanted to leave Earth again, either. Apartments amid the bright lights and bustle of the Citadel would have seemed like diving into naïve ignorance again.

The flat turned out to be a penthouse, and stepping into it made her pause almost immediately. "_Jesus_, Anderson…"

He could not have afforded this on even an Admiral's salary.

_His time as the Councilor for Earth must have paid better than I thought_.

Letting the door close behind her, she just stood for a long moment in front of it, feeling almost awkward…like a speck of dirt that had landed on the Hope Diamond.

The décor was muted but ultra-modern, and from what she could see there were at least two floors. Still feeling like she was invading someone else's home, she tentatively started forward and began to look around.

It wasn't long before she caught obvious signs that military souls had lived there. Among the artwork, the bookcases, the sitting rooms, and the personal zen garden _(complete with its own waterfall, _she thought with a shake of her head_. A damned waterfall in an _apartment…), there was a well outfitted gym, and a workroom-slash-armory.

She smirked a bit when she entered the office and saw the poker table, letting her fingers drift over the green felt for a moment, before they moved over the spines of the books on the shelves.

_Actual books. Paper and everything. _The Art of War, _by Sun Tzu…this must be worth a damned fortune-_

She took the volume down and opened it, then smirked at the inscription. _Ah. Gift from Fleet Master Barrett. I'll have to get this back to Anderson once the war is over._

Closing the book carefully she slid it back into place, then sighed. Finding a small bedroom (she'd located no less than three so far, besides what was clearly the master) through another door in the office, she sat down on the bed, then flopped back with a weary groan.

_I know he wants me to keep it but this place…I don't know. This isn't me. It's nice but…Christ, I think Nan's _house _back on Earth could have fit in here twice over. I don't know what I'd even do with it. _

She closed her eyes, days of weary exhaustion and stress almost immediately tugging her toward sleep. Her body seemed to ache in a thousand different quarters- the kind of almost pleasurable ache that came when rest was desperately needed.

_I can just keep it safe for him, until the war is over. If he still doesn't want it then, maybe we could…I don't know. Sell it and donate the money to the relief efforts. All this…this stuff, this room…_

_Plenty of room for little blue children_- was the last treacherous thought that snuck through her mind, before sleep abruptly draped over her.

She woke startled, one hand groping toward her hip and the pistol she was carrying there, before consciousness fully asserted herself. She was alone still in the room, but apparently not in the apartment any more. She could hear music, soft and distant. Sitting up, she pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to shake off the fuzziness, before glancing at her chrono.

Over an hour had gone by.

As she stepped out of the bedroom and into the office, the music grew slightly louder. It was a piano. Remembering that she'd caught a glimpse of a piano in one of the larger sitting rooms, she headed that direction…a soft smile coming to her face as she recognized the self-same strains of the unfinished song she'd been writing for Liara.

The asari stood at the piano, softly picking out the notes with one hand. Her back was to Shepard, the neon lights of the Arcade outside the apartment tower outlining her in pink and red, blue and yellow and green. Leaning on the doorway, Del folded her arms and watched her for a while.

"Trying to finish the song on your own?" she asked after the notes paused a moment.

Liara half turned her head, a faint but wry smirk on her lips. "Well, I was weary of waiting for you to complete it."

"Uh huh," Shepard said, then straightened and walked forward. "I didn't know you could play."

"I cannot…well, not really. I entertained myself during a storm that lasted several days on one of my early digs. Another of the archaeologists had a portable keyboard. I learned little more than how to pick out certain notes. Afterward there was always something else that needed doing that was more important. I suppose I just figured that I was young yet…that I had centuries ahead of me to learn it better if I truly wanted to-"

Her brow had knit, her face growing troubled. Del gently caught her shoulder, meeting her eyes.

"Hey," she said softly. "You _do_ have centuries ahead of you, Tianlán. And from what I just heard, you've got the talent…and I guess if I decide to actually keep this place, we've even got a piano for you to learn on."

Liara smiled slightly, but Del could tell she was not quite convinced. "You do not know if you will keep the apartment?"

"Have you looked around this place?" Del asked, glancing around again herself. "I wouldn't know what to _do_ with myself here. Nan's house was the nicest place I have ever lived in, and that wasn't even this…_big._"

"Is that what troubles you? The size?" Liara asked. Del shook her head.

"I don't know, Li. I just…it still just feels wrong I guess. Sitting here in a penthouse at the top of a tower while good men and women are fighting and dying in desperation all over this galaxy-"

"Shepard…"

"I know."

She ran a hand back through her hair, then smirked with no real amusement. "Oh look. A bar."

Walking over she started digging through the cabinets, finding a bottle of scotch and pulling it out, before selecting a pair of small glasses.

As she opened the scotch and started to pour, Liara came around the bar and gently took the bottle, setting it aside before winding her arms around Shepard's waist. She said nothing, only held her tightly, resting her head against her shoulder. Del paused a moment in surprise, then gently put her arms around the asari and returned the embrace.

After a long moment's silence, Shepard sighed. "You'll stay here with me?"

"Of course," Liara said. "I can bring Glyph from the ship, coordinate what I must from here via his interface."

"Read my mail?" Del asked.

Liara straightened and lifted a brow as she looked at her. "Perhaps. If I feel you are pushing yourself to the breaking point again and deem it necessary."

"I'm not about to break, Li. I'm doing a lot better. The nightmares haven't stopped but they're so much better than they were, and the indoctrination-"

"Those things improving does not erase the fact that you have been fighting nonstop since Earth. That you have lost friends, have been pushed to the limits of even your physical means. It does not change what happened in orbit around Rannoch."

Shepard released her, picking up the scotch again and pouring a glass. She lifted it, about to drink, then looked at it and set it down again with a sigh.

"A vacation."

"It is not such a horrible thing, Del. And it is necessary. There is little you can do now at any rate; not with the _Normand_y in dry-dock."

Shepard said nothing, just stared at the scotch glass with a scowl. Reaching out gently, Liara brushed a lock of her hair back from her temple. "And you will be able to spend time with me," she said.

She was gratified to see Shepard give half of her crooked grin. "Now you're just bribing me," she teased.

"If that is what it takes."

Turning to her again, Del pulled her close. "You are too good to me, T'Soni. You know that?"

"I do," Liara said, then looked at her seriously. "I love you, Del Shepard. Neither of us knows what this war will ultimately bring. These few short days together may be our last chance to…_just be_."

"Yeah. I kind of like the sound of that, actually." She rested her forehead on Liara's. "Find a moment of peace."

"It may be that moment that ends up making the difference."

"You think so?"

"Stranger things have happened. I know. I have seen most of them with you."

Shepard laughed, then shook her head. "You are quite persuasive, T'Soni. I'll try. I'm not going to promise anything but…I'll try. Ok?"

It may have been her imagination, but she seemed to feel some of the tension in Liara's body give way slightly. Cupping her face, the asari kissed her, slow and gentle.

"Thank you, Del. That is all I ask."

* * *

"Are you sure I'm not intruding?" Nan said worriedly as Del carried the small cargo bag into the apartment, the older woman on her heels.

"I invited you, Nan," Del said, setting the bag down near the sitting area.

"I know but…surely you and Liara want some privacy-"

"Uh, look around," Del laughed, gesturing. "Given the size of this damn place, I'm pretty sure we can manage getting privacy. Hell, you practically need a GPS to find your way back from the bathroom."

Nancy laughed. "It is…quite lovely. And roomy. But really dear, I'm just fine on the _Normandy_-"

"Yeah, so was I, until I got dragged by the ear into a vacation," she said. "Look, Nan. All seriousness. There are plenty of bedrooms, and you'd just be in the way of the engineering crews on the ship. You're not as young as you used to be-"

"Oh, this is about age now is it?" Nan scoffed.

"-AND I will not sleep in a damn palace while you sleep in a bunk. There are four bedrooms in this place. We don't even have to see each other if you don't want. You're not intruding, you're staying. Period, end of story."

"Is that so, young lady?"

"Nan," Liara emerged from a hallway, walking up behind the older human woman and wrapping her arms around her shoulders. "This means a lot to Del. And to me. Please, you need to stay. Let Del spoil you for once."

Nan laughed, patting the asari's hand. "All right."

"Oh, you listen to her now and not me?" Del asked with a snort.

"I am far more persuasive," Liara said dryly.

"And prettier," Nan added.

"That too."

Shepard rolled her eyes and picked up the bag again. "I'm putting your bag in the bedroom just down this hall. And just for the record, I have a _much_ nicer ass than Liara."

"Yes, I can see it from here," Liara called after her. "It is truly lovely, despite having been shot at least once."

"I hate you both!" Shepard yelled back cheerily, before vanishing into the room.

Nan laughed, turning and hugging Liara a moment before she sighed. "Tell me truly, dear…how is she _really_ doing?"

"Worse than she will readily admit to," Liara said.

"Yes, that's our Del for you," Nan said, shaking her head. "She's had to keep such a tight grip this whole time…that is why she truly doesn't want this down time. She's afraid if she relaxes it, even a little…"

"She will fall apart."

"And it's our job to get her to loosen that grip, show her that's not going to happen," Nancy said, her tone showing the determination that had helped hundreds of kids in the past. She clapped her hands together. "So. First thing's first. Dinner."

"I was just going to order a pizza, maybe. I'm not sure what we even have stocked," Del said, emerging from the hall and hearing the last sentence.

"Oh no. No pizza," Nan said, already heading into the kitchen. "You are going to cook."

Shepard blanched. "What? _Me?_"

"Yes, you."

"Are you kidding me? I can't cook!"

"Are your arms broken?"

"No, of course not-"

"Then you can cook." She reached the kitchen, rummaging around. "And you're in luck- it looks like we are fully stocked. Liara, would you like steak or fish?"

"Nan, the last time you made me cook I burnt water!" Shepard said, entering after her.

"I remember. It was in my kitchen," Nan said. "Don't look so terrified, Del. I'll walk you through it. Now get those pans up there. We'll need some olive oil…"

* * *

The _Normandy_ felt odd without the crew aboard, only the strange faces of the Alliance engineers and retrofit teams wandering the halls and setting their duty tasks and priorities. It seemed every other one had a data pad she had to sign off on before work could really begin.

Felt odd being aboard dressed in her civvies again, too- but Liara had insisted she leave the uniform at home.

"You are on vacation," she'd said. "You have to sign the work orders, no way around that, but if you go back on that ship in uniform your mind will be at _work_, in this war. You will be Captain Shepard. That is precisely what you do not need."

She'd worn only civvies the entire time this had been a Cerberus ship, refusing to put on any Cerberus uniform or colors. Being aboard now that it was an Alliance vessel again, while wearing scuffed jeans and a t-shirt, seemed far more surreal than that had been.

She'd finished off on the last work orders, freeing the crews to get work going on some of the more sensitive systems, then headed up to the Nest to get a few of her things together. Liara was aboard too, tying up a few loose threads with the Broker network and gathering some items that she would need at the apartment, including Glyph. Packed up, Del headed down to find her when her omni-tool buzzed.

She had a text message from Joker.

Riding the lift down to the crew level, she looked it over, then shouldered her pack and stepped off, heading in Liara's door.

"Hey, you about ready?" she asked as she stepped in.

"I am going to be a little while yet," Liara told her. "I have a few more contacts to set up. I do not want the Broker's efforts to help refugees and provide resources to the Crucible to suffer simply because I am taking a little down time. That I will have to do _some_ work while we are in dry dock is unavoidable, but I want that to be as little as possible."

"Joker just messaged me. He wants to meet for dinner…some place called Ryuusei. Probably wants to make up for what he said before we docked."

Liara glanced away from her screen, fixing her love with a look.

"Everything he said was accurate. You _do_ need a vacation, and you _are_ stubborn."

"Doesn't mean I can't make him squirm a little," Shepard said. "I was kind of hoping you would join us."

"I would love to, but I really do need to finish up here. You go. Relax, and have fun. Just remember, you are mine for the rest of the night after you get back home."

Del smirked softly, then bent over and kissed her lightly. "I'll hold you to that, T'Soni."

"I am sure I shall enjoy being 'held', Captain," Liara said with a teasing glint in her eye.

Shepard laughed, then hoisted her pack back on her shoulder. "All right. I'm going to drop this stuff off and look up this restaurant. I'll see you later tonight when I get back."

"I look forward to it."

Shepard bent and kissed her again, before turning and heading out. Reaching the apartment again she stowed her bag in the master bedroom, then headed downstairs, filing through the extranet on her omni-tool. The information for Ryuusei appeared and began scrolling.

"Wow, really Joker?" she said to herself as she stepped into the kitchen, almost immediately enveloped in the smell of brewing coffee.

"What dear?" Nancy asked from near the coffee maker, turning around to look at her.

"What? Oh, nothing. Sorry. Joker invited me to have dinner and I was just looking up the restaurant he wants me to meet him at. It's called Ryuusei."

She turned her omni-tool to show the information as Nan drew close and peered at it.

"Not bad," Nancy said. "Fairly high end. Good reviews. Sushi?"

"Haven't had real sushi in…God. _Years_."

"Well, it will be good for you to get out, have some fun," the older woman said, returning to the percolator. "Coffee?"

"I'd love some," Del said, switching off her omni-tool. "Still, this place sounds pretty posh. Doesn't seem Joker's speed…and its odd he got reservations. There's a six month waiting list apparently."

Nancy laughed, and Del blinked at her. "What?"

"You really don't know how he got reservations?" she asked, pouring a mug and passing it over. "One of the famous Captain Del Shepard's crew?"

Del colored a little. "I'm not _that_ famous."

Nancy arched a brow and Del cleared her throat. "Well, I'm not…_in_famous, maybe-"

"Infamy can get sushi reservations too," Nancy said lightly. "Sweetheart, come on. You saved hundreds of human colonies, saved the Citadel from an attack by Saren, then another attack by Cerberus, you cured the genophage, united the turians and the krogan, the geth and the quarians…you're the hero of this war. If that's not enough to open up a table for fish and seaweed, I don't know _what_ is."

Del gave her a dry look, then chuckled, sipping at her coffee.

"What time does he want to meet?"

"Bout an hour from now."

"Is Liara going?"

"She begged out. She wants to finish dotting some I's and crossing some T's as far as the Brokerage is concerned before taking a vacation. And she has to finish gathering a few things. She should be here before I get back."

"Good! We can have some time chatting, just the two of us."

Del paused with the mug halfway to her lips again and looked at her adopted mother warily. "Chatting…"

"Yes dear. People do that."

"About what…?"

"Oh, this and that…honestly, Del. What do you think she's going to tell me about that I don't already know? What positions you like in the sack?"

"_Nan!"_

"Well, really! Come on, stop being silly young lady. Finish your coffee then go get ready. If that restaurant has a six month waiting list then I'm sure they expect you to show up in something other than grungy jeans and a New York Mets zeegee ball t-shirt."

Shepard looked down at herself, then groaned. "Hadn't thought of that. You don't think it's a black tie place, do you?"

"I'm sure a nice clean and tasteful shirt and slacks would be fine, Del. Jeff would likely shoe-horn himself into a tux as fast as you would into a ball gown."

"I could wear a tux."

"Do you own a tux?"

"Well, no-"

"Then unless you're going to put your dress uniform on I'd just go with the shirt and slacks."

Shaking her head, she drained the rest of her coffee then set the mug down, turning to head toward her room. "What I do for my crew..."

"Don't kid yourself dear," Nan joked after her. "It's for the fish and seaweed."

Shepard laughed. "Oh, it's _totally_ for the fish and seaweed."


	3. Chapter 3

It turned out the restaurant was not too far away. Del decided to walk it, get a better look at the lay of the land around her new apartment.

The residential tower grounded into a vast mall arcade that assailed her with a rainbow of neon and heavy music almost the moment she stepped off the lift. High end casinos, shops, and recreational organizations lined the public walkway, which was a bustle of every species dressed to the nines.

_Not your typical Wards neighborhood_, she thought. She had put on the nicest shirt she owned- a simple bone colored shirt with cap sleeves- and a pair of slacks. She thought she looked pretty decent, but now looking around, she felt almost self-conscious.

_I was worried the restaurant was black-tie. Apparently the whole damn_ mall _is._

Ryuusei was located on the fortieth floor above the mall strip. She had to take another lift onto a level that it shared with two other high end restaurants and a small dance club in order to access it. As she crossed the floor from the lifts and skycar park toward the restaurant, she could see the heavy line of hopefuls corralled between velvet ropes, leading down a wide set of stairs to the restaurant entrance.

In tasteful and rather lovely neon over the line hung the sign for the restaurant, written in Japanese, Galactic, and Asari.

_Come to think of it, most of the line is asari_, Del noticed as she drew up to the back of the queue. _Good. Maybe they'll have some decently spicy-_

"Excuse me."

The word was said chill disdain. Still taking in the décor, hands idly tucked in the pockets of her slacks, Del didn't immediately realize the words were directed at her, until they were repeated.

"I _said_, _excuse_ me."

"Oh, sorry?" she said, her attention focusing on the trio of asari waiting just ahead of her. All three were dressed in elegant gowns, one all but dripping with gemstones. This one was the one who had apparently addressed her. She looked at Del as she might a rather pungent dropping left by a varren.

"You are in the _wrong_ location," the asari said tersely.

"This…isn't the line for Ryuusei?" she asked. The bejeweled asari sniffed sharply and the other two giggled, the sound abruptly cutting off as the elder glanced at them, then back at Del.

"This is the line for Ryuusei, but as you seem to be unaware, there are…_standards_."

"Standards that I do not apparently meet," Del said neutrally, lifting a brow.

"Listen, dear, I am going to do you a huge favor and keep you from embarrassing yourself," Jewel said, the other two still stifling giggles behind their hands. One leaned over and whispered to her companion softly. Del didn't hear what she said, but the glance she cast at Jewel was interesting. When they noticed Del looking their way, one of them winked.

Del got the distinct impression they were fed up with Jewel, knew exactly who Del was, and were waiting for something monumentally embarrassing to happen.

"I appreciate that," Del said, playing along.

"This place takes reservations, and it only takes reservations from those who are of a particular class, a particular _standing_," Jewel said haughtily, oblivious of the mocking right behind her back. "From the look of you, you would be far more comfortable in Zakera Wards, or perhaps in the refugee docks."

"It's possible I would," Del agreed calmly, folding her arms. "I take it you are of…_particular_ standing?"

The asari drew up with importance. "_I_ am the daughter of Matriarch Beleznia of House Urita, the wealthiest asari House on Thessia. I own seventy two businesses _and_ my own planet. My House can trace our blood back to the first Houses of the Renaissance."

"Oh really?" Del said, bored.

"I do not expect _you_ to understand," the asari said with a bitter snap. "A homely human who looks like she dragged herself from a slum. I would be surprised if you have more than two credits to rub together for warmth, judging by your _incredibly_ cheap and unfashionable adornment. Let me put this bluntly. This line, this restaurant, and this entire _Ward_, are for people who _matter_- not no name, worthless, _human_ refugees. Now. Toddle off back to where you actually belong before I have to call the authorities and have you escorted."

Del was very, very tempted to tell her to do so, but before she could speak, an eager voice with a thick French accent called to her from the head of the line. "Captain? Oh, _there_ you are! _Captain Shepard!"_

She could tell from the sound the caller was heading her way, so she didn't glance around at him at first. Only as his happy cries got closer did she finally turn her head and look at the beaming maître d'.

"I'm sorry, were you calling for me?" she asked.

"Of course he wasn't, _idiot_," Jewel said. She was craning her head, looking around. "He was calling for-"

"_Oui!_ Oui, Captain Shepard!" He reached her side, enveloping her hand between his. "Captain, it is _such_ an incredible honor to have you to Ryuusei! We have your table prepared and your party has already arrived. Please, right this way. You do not have to bother with _these_ riff raff."

He indicated the line, all but herding Del down the stairs. Jewel's two companions burst out laughing as she gaped, Del giving her a shrug before following after the animated fellow, who was describing the six kinds of wine they had been sure to set aside just for her.

Behind her, the follow up conversation amid the storm of laughter drifted down.

"Goddess, that wasn't _really_-"

"Serves you right, Leatta. Honestly! How could you _not_ recognize Captain Shepard?" One said.

"It would help if she noticed anything past her own titles," the other added. "'I own seventy two businesses'…honestly! Here's a hint, Leatta. If you have to _tell_ everyone how important you are…_you're_ _not._"

The voices faded into the surrounding din as Del and the maître d' reached the restaurant door and stepped inside. Instantly the mouthwatering smell of fresh fish and spices surrounded her in a haze. Huge floor length windows ringing the restaurant offered a spectacular view of the entire Wards, the structure built out of the side of the tower to give it the feeling of being on a balcony. Mood lighting set off the rippling glimmer of an absolutely enormous set of fish tanks that quite literally formed the floor, walls, and ceiling of certain portions of the restaurant. Diners were sitting at tables, indulging their meals and conversation as hundreds of species of beautiful sea life swam lazily right under their feet.

The dining area was portioned off into sections, a bar with a vast array of bottles from all over the galaxy forming one of the 'partitions' between sections. A small stage formed a second, a quartet of musicians playing soft but cheerful music, adding to the atmosphere. As Del glanced over at them to see if they were using real instruments (they weren't, sadly- all HI interface) the saxophone player met her eyes and then smiled, giving her a wink.

"It is right over here, Captain," the maître d' said, gaining her attention again as he gestured toward a table near the windows. The lazy shadows of small bay sharks slipped beneath it as Joker waved at her.

"Thanks," Del said, moving over to take a seat.

"May I get you anything to drink? Anything you would like-your selections are all on the house."

"Oh, that's not necessary-"

"_Nonsense!_ It is the _least_ that can be done for the Hero of the Citadel and her crew! I absolutely insist! We are humbly at your service!"

"That's…very generous of you, thank you," Del said, a bit flustered. "Umm…bottle of pris para?"

"Excellent choice! And for monsieur?"

"Just keep 'em coming," Joker said, gesturing to a glass near his hand that looked to be half-filled with high-end lager.

"Excellent!"

The maître d' hurried away, and Joker grinned at her. "Gee, I didn't realize I knew a rock star."

"Stow it, Jeff," Del said with a faint grin.

"I'm just saying, there are some untapped benefits to being Captain Shepard, apparently. Can't do anything about it, so you might as well kick back and enjoy the royal treatment. I mean, look at that line outside…and we just breezed past."

A waiter arrived with the small bottle of pris para and a glass, depositing them carefully in front of her and opening the bottle. She nodded in thanks.

"Speaking of 'benefits to being Captain Shepard', where's Blue?" Joker asked.

"She had a few things she wanted to finish up," Del said.

"Uh huh. Now suddenly I feel like we're stuck without a referee," he said.

"I'm not going to hurt you Jeff," Del said with a chuckle, taking a sip of her drink. "Well, nothing permanent, anyway."

"Ha ha. Well, if you _are_ going to do something, please just break an arm or a leg. Or my neck. _Anything_ is better than saddling me with that VI of you again."

"Don't tempt me."

"I have to say though, if you are going to kill me you picked a hell of a place for it," he said, looking around and nursing his lager. "I do believe I could die happy here."

Del paused, looking over at him sharply, setting the glass she'd been about to sip from again sharply back on the table. "What?"

"I said you picked a hell of a place for it. I was surprised when I saw the invite. Didn't figure something like this was your speed, then I thought, well, sushi, and…what?"

"Joker, I didn't invite you here," she said. "I'm here because I got a message from you inviting _me._"

"Uh, I didn't send you a message," he said, blinking. "I didn't even know this place existed until I got a ping on my omni-tool from _you_. You…you don't think Liara did this? Trying to get us to make nice?"

"I don't think she'd-"

"Captain! Captain Shepard!"

The shout through the restaurant turned more than one curious head as an out of breath figure in an Alliance uniform rushed through, weaving past tables with the harried maître d' behind her.

"Mademoiselle! Mademoiselle!"

The uniform looked young- if she was a day over her mid-twenties Del would have been shocked. She was also wide-eyed, out of breath, and looked terrified.

"Oh this looks fun," Joker said as the uniform neared their table, panting.

"Mademoiselle! You cannot just-"

"It's ok," Del said, glancing at him. "I'm sure the analyst has a reason for rushing in here. I'll take care of it."

"Captain," the girl said, taking a whooping breath. "Staff Analyst M-…h-how did you know I'm an analyst?" she said, suddenly switching gears from harried to baffled in the space of a single breath.

"I can read uniform insignia and designation, Analyst," Del said slowly, smiling slightly.

"Oh! Oh, of course you…the pips, and…"

She nervously fingered her collar.

"What was your name again?" Del asked.

"Oh! Staff Analyst Maya Brooks ma'am. Sorry ma'am, didn't mean to cause a scene…" she snapped off a salute, still panting, then blurted out far more loudly than she'd intended, "People are trying to kill you!"

Several heads at the surrounding tables turned toward her in surprise. The musicians actually paused a beat in their playing, and for a moment it seemed everyone in the place was staring at her. Brooks colored brightly and seemed to shrink a little. "Uh…ma'am."

"Can we keep her?" Joker asked, looking at Shepard.

"Jeff…."

"What? She's _adorable!_"

She gave him a sharp look, then regarded the uniform again. "Brooks, you're going to have to be a bit more specific. Are we talking about Cerberus? The Reapers…?"

"What? Oh! Oh, no! Of course _those_ people are trying to kill…I mean, we _are_ at war, it's not like you're…_oh bollocks_!"

She slapped her hands over her face, took a noticeable breath, then lowered her hands again. "I'm sorry, Captain. This is all outside my experience. I'm really not a total fool, I swear it. Captain, I'm part of the Alliance communication and records team here on the Citadel. I'm here because someone is hacking into your accounts. Alliance personnel records, bank accounts, _everything_. I would have pinged your omni-tool with this information but apparently they're in that too. Not twenty minutes ago every alert on my board went crazy."

"Are they getting into the _Normandy?_" Del asked, immediately concerned. "EDI, or the crew-"

"No, the _Normandy_ doesn't seem affected. They're targeting _you_ specifically."

"What makes you think that this means someone's trying to _kill_ me?" Del asked.

"I managed to trace one of the incoming lines and intercept a communication-" she said, then jumped as a voice filled the room, whirling around in apparent mid-air.

The speaker was the saxophone player, the one who had winked at Del when she'd come in. He was talking into the hover mike in front of him, the other three musicians apparently stowing their instruments.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said cheerfully. "Tonight's stellar entertainment is brought to you by _Random Acts of Violence!_"

His hand swung forward, a machine pistol in his grip, aimed upward. It went off in a roar of bullets and a glut of flame, the sound slamming through the small restaurant. As the other musicians straightened from their instrument cases, they had assault rifles in their hands, their bodies flaring with blue barriers. Instantly the room was filled with screams and shouts, the shattering of dishes and glasses as the startled patrons either abandoned their seats to rush for the door, or dropped down under their tables.

In almost pure reflex, Del half lunged across the table, catching the far end of it and hauling it upward as she dropped back, dropping the table onto its side and making it into cover. Her chair clattered away as she crouched behind it. Joker had awkwardly lunged out of his own chair and was now crouched beside her.

"_This_ is why we can't have nice things," he said. "Why is it you can't go anywhere without guns going off?"

Del ignored him, risking half a glance around the table. Brooks had bolted toward the bar and was now sitting on the floor against it, her already large eyes nearly swallowing her entire face. Some of the patrons were still crouching and hiding and some were still trying to cram in a wave out the door, along with a few of the restaurant staff.

The gunmen were still firing, apparently randomly, aiming at nothing in particular as they kicked over chairs and tables. They seemed more intent on herding people out than actually hurting them, but the sight of more than one unmoving form sprawled on the ground told they were not above slaughtering unarmed people.

More, they were not alone. A door lead from the horseshoe bar area into the back kitchen area of the restaurant. Through it, and through the front, hard-suited figures were appearing, similarly armed. Del didn't recognize their colors.

The musicians didn't have hard-suits on but they did have barriers, and they were now halfway across the restaurant, shooting randomly and pulling people out from under or behind cover, shoving them toward the door and shouting at them. A pair of the hard-suited fellows had crossed the bar and were heading their way, doing the same with patrons and tables in their section. Del glanced around again just as one discovered the terrified Maya. She squealed as he grabbed her, striking her lightly over the temple with his pistol before tightening his grip on her collar and dragging her toward the door. Woozy from the knock, she was weakly struggling.

"I found one," Del heard the merc say, and ducked back again. The other one was still heading slowly their way.

"_Just shoot them_," Joker said in a low voice. Del's jaw tightened and her cheeks reddened a little.

"Do you have a pistol?" she asked softly.

"I'm a pilot, and I didn't figure I'd need one on shore leave," he said in return, then blinked. "Wait…do you _not_ have a pistol?"

Del colored more, ignoring him to glance around their area. Joker gaped.

"You're _unarmed_? Are you _serious?_"

"I'm _never_ unarmed, Joker," she hissed.

"But you don't have a _pistol_. What are you going to do, flick chopsticks at them? Strangle them with your eyebrows?"

She gripped his wrist, perhaps a tad more sharply than was required, then jerked her chin toward a nearby door. "That service way probably leads into the kitchen," she said. "There's probably a service exit out into the mall. Move carefully. They've likely got comm dampeners but they'll be limited range. As soon as you're clear of the restaurant see if you can't get ahold of the crew or C-Sec, get some damned backup here."

"Yeah, ok," he said. "Is it clear?"

She glanced around the edge of the table, then nodded. "It's clear," she whispered, even though a merc stood less than five feet away. "Go!"

Joker's sudden motion for the door immediately caught the merc's attention, and he turned that way, lifting his weapon and striding forward.

"Hey, you! _Stop right...!"_

Joker whirled, gaping, and Del surged up. One arm swept around the merc's neck and she used her weight to yank him off balance, dropping them both back behind the table. In the same motion, her omni-blade lit up, sinking into the soft joint between his shoulder pads and helmet. His cry of alarm was reduced to a soft, wet murmur and he was dead weight almost instantly. Lowering him down, Del took his pistol out of his hand.

"You used me as _bait?_" Joker asked in an angry, loud whisper. Del looked at him, gesturing forcefully at the kitchen door. He turned, heading toward it again. "I can't _believe_ you used me as _bait!"_

"Yes," Del said softly to herself as Joker vanished into the kitchen. "And now I have a gun. Imagine that."

She risked a look around the table again. Most of the civvies were gone now, though the mercs were still hauling a few of them toward the door. The line outside the restaurant seemed to have vanished, but shouts and cries could still be heard. More mercs appeared to be arriving, a pair hurrying down the stairs toward the restaurant front.

_It only has to be a matter of seconds before C-Sec arrives_, Del thought. _Just have to hold out that long_.

Glancing the other way, she saw one of the mercs had Brooks on her feet against the bar. The small of her back was pressed tightly to it, in a position that had to be painful. Her face was pale, a faint line of blood on her temple from where he'd hit her with his gun. He had said pistol in her face and was threatening her. Del could hear him from where she hid.

"_Where is she?"_

"I-I-I-I don't know who you mean," Brooks stammered, terror in her voice. She sounded like she was about to throw up.

"She was over in the rear section, near the windows," the saxophone player said, striding across the floor of broken glass and gesturing Del's direction. "I told you! Please tell me you covered the kitchen access!"

"Of course we covered the-" he began. He turned toward the saxophonist. As he did, Maya gave him an awkward shove. It didn't do much, just threw him slightly off balance, but that was all Del needed. She fired twice. Her first shot hit the hard-suited merc on the side of the helmet, further knocking him off his balance and sending him careening to the floor. Her second shot hit the saxophonist as he turned, lifting his own gun in her direction. He flailed back at the impact, nearly tripping over a downed patron, before miraculously recovering himself. One of the other mercs nearby rushed forward.

He didn't carry a simple machine pistol but a full on assault rifle. A hail of fire roared down on Shepard, punching into her table/cover like nails through cardboard. She sprinted across the room, aiming for the bar and better cover. Glass shattering joined the roar of bullets, and Del reeled as she tried to change direction, the shot stamping through the floor right in front of her feet.

Saxophone was on his feet again, bleeding. Shepard saw him aim at her, then there was a blur of blue as Brooks shoved her backward. There was a flash of blood, she heard Brooks yell in pain, felt heat skim over her upper arm. Del hit the floor hard with her back and shoulders…but the floor didn't stay put. Already compromised by being shot several times, (and currently being shot more as the merc with the assault rifle sprayed his gunfire at her, trying to take her out) the reinforced glass of the aquarium couldn't handle the impact of her weight. She crashed through the first layer of glass, felt herself momentarily enveloped with water. There was another muffled crunch almost lost in the rush of water in her ears and her vision went momentarily white as the back of her skull struck the bottom of the tank. The assault rifle fire finished the job, and the entire tank gave way beneath her, half the floor of the restaurant collapsing in a wash of glass, bullets, water, sea life, and Spectre. Barely had she registered the back of her head slamming into the floor of the tank than she realized she was falling.

Her mind flashed with that spectacular view Ryuusei had afforded…forty stories in the air above the arcade mall, and she could only think one thing.

_Fan. Fucking. Tastic._


	4. Chapter 4

The tableau seemed to hang, perfect and sharp. Glass and water glimmered and shone in a million different neon colors, forming sheets, and shards, and pinprick diamonds. A rainbow runner from the lakes of Sur'Kesh fanned its multi-colored fins in a peacock display. A foot away from it, her outstretched hand glimmered with red, a perfect round ruby breaking off the tip of her finger to hang in the air with the diamonds.

Then time and speed rushed back into existence.

Her momentum tumbled her in a reverse somersault. Her trained reflexes put her into a typical skydiver's freefall position; stomach down, arms outspread. Something bright and pink flashed very close to her eyes and as her arm crashed into it, she instinctively grabbed.

Neon tubing and glass shattered and broke. Her teeth snapped together as her momentum was nearly jerked to a halt, then started again in a ripping tear of electronics and lights. She was yanked out of her position, her back and shoulders hitting the sign and sending her tumbling down its length. More shattering, a stinging waterfall of sparks.

For a moment, her fingers caught on the bottom edge of the two story sign but as her weight came down her grip didn't hold. Her hand slipped free and she was falling once more.

Ten feet, then she hit metal. The building here was sloped, sending her into a tumble toward another drop off. Over and over she tried to catch or stop herself, pain lashing in from every quarter. If she went over that final precipice there was nothing but darting skycars between her and a thirty plus story drop onto a mall avenue. Without her hard-suit, shields, or any biotics to catch her, she was dead. Her metal skeleton and skull might survive the impact without too much damage, but her still very organic brain and other vital organs would be turned into paste.

The image of it came to her mind so clearly it actually shook her- a third person view of her body hitting the mall avenue at fatal speed.

_Just don't let me land on anyone,_ she thought, and then she was over the side-

-and hitting metal only five feet down, the direction of her tumble reversing. Something hard slammed up beneath her and she skidded, then drew to a halt.

She was on her stomach, on a flat surface. Pain was flaring through her from a dozen different quarters, but she was breathing. For a moment, all she could do was lie there, feeling that breathing, realizing she was still alive.

Then a horrible crash. She jolted instinctively, lifting her head and looking over toward the sound. Huge shards of glass and tangled of wires and metal- from the Ryuusei fish tank as well as the sign she'd hit- were raining down , crashing into the same platform she herself had hit and tumbling in a rain of shattered debris and shrapnel directly toward her. She ducked her head down, covering it with her arm.

Something wet slapped hard into her. Something else sang past her head. She felt a burn slash across her forearm, another across her side.

Somewhere below her, probably only a story or two, she dimly heard someone exclaim as they stood on a balcony or looked out their window- _"Is it raining fish?"_

Then it stopped again. After a few deep, shuddering breaths, Del risked a look.

She was laying against the wall in some sort of small back room or maintenance area. The 'platform' she'd hit was a shipping access. Normally, they were closed, flush against the building. This one had been left standing open, a broad sheet of metal and decorative glass that formed an angle away from the building. She'd hit it and then rolled along it into this room.

Water was all around her, her hair clinging wetly to her cheeks. She was soaked to the skin. Nearby, a few fish and small bay sharks from the aquarium writhed weakly or lay dead among a thick field of broken glass, neon tubing, and torn wires.

_{Captain? Captain, are you all right?}_

The voice was a distant hum in her ear at first, piping over her personal bud from her omni-tool relay. Shifting gingerly, she grit her teeth with a grunt as a dozen different painful points alerted her. Glass chips fell from her hair as she got into an upright sit, trying to figure out how badly she was hurt.

She had minor cuts from the glass all over the place. One larger one along her ribs had torn her shirt and was bleeding nicely, but seemed fairly shallow.

On her upper left arm she had a much deeper gash where the bullet that had struck Brooks had grazed her arm. It was bleeding fairly heavily. Lacking any medi-gel, she ripped off the bottom of her torn shirt and tied it up as tightly as she was able.

_{Captain! Captain, please…speak up! Are you all right? Are you alive?}_

This time the voice actually filtered through her ringing head, and she touched her ear bud with grunt.

"Brooks?"

_{Oh thank God! Captain, are you ok?}_

"I'm fantastic," she said tautly, gritting her teeth as she got to her feet. She didn't think anything was actively broken, but she felt like she'd been beat all over very nicely with something heavy and blunt. Her back twinged and pulled sharply as she straightened, her shoulders throbbed, and a delightful headache was pounding with full on construction equipment in her skull.

Both her arms were cut and scratched all to hell from her efforts to stop her fall with the sign.

As she looked around her surroundings, she shook away the last of the ringing in her ears and tried to concentrate. "Brooks, you were shot-"

_{Yes! I was! It was so strange, I've never been shot before! Didn't hurt as badly as I expected it might. Funny thing. I have medi-gel, isn't that fantastic?}_

Del paused a little, her brows knotting. Brooks was oddly and alarmingly upbeat…and Del had heard such a tone before.

"Brooks, how much medi-gel did you use?"

_{I had a standard ration kit,}_ she said, obviously delighted. _{I think I used round about… all of it. It smells like cinnamon! And now everything is a little bit bouncy!}_

Del resisted a groan. _Goddamn desk jockey_, she thought. A standard ration kit was enough medi-gel to treat at least two serious wounds- 'you just took a shotgun blast to the thigh' kind of serious wounds. It was enough to stop the bleeding on those kinds of wounds, and pump the blood full of a lot of hardcore antibiotics and painkillers. The painkillers were designed to moderate with adrenaline and other substances your body secreted when it was so wounded. This helped prevent shock, and it also mitigated the effect of the anesthetic, allowing it to stop the pain but also preventing it from clouding up your mind. In a high enough dose, absent enough adrenaline and the risk of serious physical shock, it produced a euphoric and even hallucinatory high.

If Brooks had sustained only a relatively minor wound, but used all of a standard ration kit on it-

_She's high as a goddamn kite_, Del thought.

"Brooks, I need you to listen to me very carefully," she said. "Are the mercs still there?"

_{Nope. Nope. Uh…nope. When you fell they ran out. I think they're coming down after you maybe. My uniform is_ so blue!}

"Ok, what I need you to do is get C-Sec and tell them to lock down this entire area," Del told her. "Talk to a man named Bailey. Tell him Captain Shepard wants this whole area locked down. Tell him to contact my crew and let them know what's going on, that mercs raided Ryuusei and shot innocent civvies trying to kill me. My pilot hopefully has already alerted them but I can't assume. Can you do that, Brooks?"

_{Oh yes. I have a wonderful memory. Tell Bailey to lock this area down and let your crew know mercs are trying to kill you. I_ so _have it.}_

"Good. Do you happen to know who these mercs are, by any chance?"

_{I don't have the slightest idea!}_ she replied happily. _{But they really don't seem to like you.}_

"Yeah, I picked up on that."

_{It's like…just_ weird. _Has my uniform always been this pretty?}_

"For fuck's sake, Brooks! Concentrate!"

_{Oh! Yes, sorry. Where are you?}_

"I'm not sure. Back room of somewhere. Looks like cooling equipment around me."

Moving over to the open platform she looked outside. "I can see…some kind of a platform with skycars on it across the way. Any thoughts?"

_{Looking…I think it's a skycar dealership. Yes. Yes. Illustra Motors. If you can get there I can get a shuttle over to pick you up.}_

"Great, I'll get over there."

_{Oh, also, yes…one more thing Sheppy-}_

Del blinked. _Did she just call me_ Sheppy?

_{-they've hacked your omni-tool and your comm as well, so please try and stay off this channel. They can use it to locate you. I mean, unless you're talking to me. It's kind of necessary. Though I guess if you shout really_ really _loud I might be able to hear you, but then, they might too-}_

"_Brooks!"_

_{Yes, just like that!}_

"Just get the lockdown in place and get the damned shuttle! Shepard out."

She debated getting rid of both her omni-tool and ear bud, then decided against it. They could pinpoint her location using them, but at the same time if she ditched them she had no computer and no communications whatsoever- even if those communications were only with a staff analyst high on a medi-gel overdose.

Moving gingerly, she limped toward the door of the room she had found herself in. As she did so, she noticed something on the ground that wasn't fish, glass, torn wire, or an organ or two she may have coughed up when she landed. Grinning slightly, she carefully stooped and picked it up.

It was the pistol she had taken off the merc.

"Things are looking up," she said to no one, checking the clip chamber and making sure the weapon wasn't damaged, before edging toward the door.

The equipment nearby definitely looked like industrial strength cooling units, so she was displeased but unsurprised when she got the door open and a blast of sharply frigid air hit her in the face.

She was in a restaurant freezer. Boxes of supplies were stacked against walls liberally frosted with ice, and slabs of meat hung from hooks or racks all around her.

She was hardly dressed for such cold- not especially now that half her shirt had been torn off to tie up her arm wound. She was also soaking wet thanks to the fish tank. The cold seemed to cut through her almost instantly, and she immediately aimed for the door.

Getting it open, she peered out carefully, pistol ready, then stepped cautiously out into the kitchen.

The kitchen that had, apparently, been hastily deserted. Food was still bubbling on elements that had been switched off but had not yet had the chance to cool. Meat and vegetables were in various states of preparation all around her, but not a soul was to be seen. A flashing alert scrolling across the kitchen's display screens pinpointed the cause- C-Sec had ordered the area locked down.

_Restaurant owner probably panicked and had everyone leave to the public areas_, she thought, moving as gingerly and silently as she was able. _Or else those mercs are already here and cleared everyone out to set up an ambush._

Spotting a bottle of cooking sherry she watched the door as she took hold of it, spilling a liberal amount over her wounded arms and trying not to hiss at the sting. Then, she took a healthy swig of it, grimaced, and set it aside again.

A bit of rummaging and she found a small, electric crème brulee torch and slipped it into the waistband of her slacks, right beside a sturdy and sizable steak knife.

The restaurant was probably going for a bit of the old world charm, because the door between the kitchen and the seating area was old-fashioned, hinged and swinging. She edged it open ever so, peering through the crack. Seeing no one, she stayed low, and slipped through.

The restaurant was just as deserted as the kitchen. Little more than a seating area and a tiny ordering station, it was more of a food stand than an actual restaurant. Through the open areas she could see what looked like a small food court area, with more food stands and open air grills. Staying in a crouch, pistol ready, she edged up to the archway leading from the seating area of the stand to the open corridor of the food court.

There were two mercs there.

Both held rifles. Their distinctive armor told they were of the same group that had attacked her in Ryuusei. One, the one nearest her, had taken off his helmet and was looking back and forth along the court, one hand to his ear as he no doubt listened to orders. His other hand was holding his rifle only half-ready.

The second merc, much further away, had his helmet on and his rifle up. He was going from stand to stand, checking them. Del lingered in the shadows, taking careful aim at the bare skull of the first merc with her pistol.

_{Captain!}_

Brooks' voice suddenly shouted in her ear. Biting back a curse, Del quickly turned back around the corner of the stand seating area, putting her back to the partition between her and the merc, slapping her ear to turn off the bud.

Holding her breath, she counted off her heartbeats. When no bootsteps headed her way, she let out a slow breath. The helmetless merc had not heard.

Cautiously, she peeked around the corner again.

He must not have heard, because he hadn't called an alarm to his compatriot, but as she peeked he suddenly turned and headed her way.

_My goddamn luck_, she thought, and ducked back again. Then she grinned wryly.

He was still not wearing his helmet.

As he stepped into the stand, rifle partially up and head turning as he looked around, Del stood up, and jammed the steak knife firmly and decisively into his neck, just under his ear. He jerked, then started to collapse. Catching his weight and trying not to grunt as it renewed the pain in her arms and shoulders, she lowered him silently down. Not bothering to tear the knife out again, she relieved him of his rifle.

Tucking the pistol into the waistband of her slacks beside the crème brulee torch, she tugged the merc a few inches until his feet were no longer hanging out of the stand, then checked over the rifle.

Peeking over the edge of the stand, she saw the other merc-none the wiser about the fate of his partner- clearing another stand about thirty feet away. Pausing a moment she contemplated, then rose and strode boldly into the open.

"Hey!"

The merc, startled, looked over at her, and was met with a face-full of full auto rifle-fire. His barriers flared, the impact staggering him back a pace and throwing off his own aim. His rifle fired in a loose stutter, bullets pitting along the floor beside him as he tried to catch himself. She didn't let up, walking forward as she continued to fire.

His shields flared, then flared again, then finally gave up. He let out a barking grunt as bullets slammed unimpeded into his chest plate, then through the face plate of his helmet.

He collapsed, and went silent.

Getting to his side, she made sure he was out of the game for good, then glanced around. Putting her back to a wall, she turned on her ear bud and started searching him.

_{..ptain!}_

"Stop shouting, Brooks," she said in a low voice. "You nearly got me killed doing that."

_{Sorry!}_ She said loudly, then repeated in a dramatic whisper. _{Sorry! I just wanted to tell you C-Sec has got the area locked down-}_

"Yeah, I figured that already. Now where the fuck are they? This place should be crawling with uniforms by now."

_{I don't know! I mean, I know, but I'm not sure what's going on,}_ Brooks told her. _{I talked to Bailey. He said he was on his way with a whole platoon of C-Sec, then contacted me a few minutes later to say you had messaged him calling everything off.}_

"What?"

_{I know, it wasn't you, but like I said, they're hacking your things._ All _the things! They sent him a text under your name with your ident to call off the lock down. Fortunately Bailey seems a bit brighter than that, and contacted me to verify. I told him bollocks and-}_

"Just get C-Sec here _now_," Shepard said impatiently. "Tell Bailey to get this area swarming with officers _right now!"_

_{I will! I mean, I did! I-I-I am! Wh-where are you?}_

"I can't tell you that, especially if my communications are hacked. They can track me by my coms but I'd rather not just hand them my location on a silver plate. Just get C-Sec in here, and get me that evac! I'm keeping my bud open but don't shout through it again, and only call me when vitally necessary. Shepard out."

Nothing on the merc was useful. There was nothing to indicate who he was or who he worked for. The only thing she knew now that she didn't before, was that the mercs were human. At least, the one she'd stabbed was, as was this one. Both human men.

Taking spare thermal clips off of him, she checked his overloaded barrier generator. Unfortunately it would do her no good until it was repaired and recharged…but she hadn't overloaded the _other_ one.

Returning back to the first stand and her stab victim, she unhooked his barrier generator, checked it, then attached it to her waist. Both men were far too big to be able to use their hard-suits, but the barrier was something at least.

Risking her omni-tool, she pulled up a map of the area, spying a bridge that would lead her across the gap to the skycar lot. Her end joined to a public area not too far from here, but of course both sides were fully locked down.

_I can get the doors open easily enough but it'll set off every alarm in the place_, she thought, heading toward the end of the food court with her rifle ready, looking around for every possible advantage.

She spied an access ladder in one corner behind a food stand, and looked up toward the maintenance catwalks. It would give her both the advantage of height and position, and she could work her way over the catwalks to the near end of the bridge.

Doing her best to put her still aching head and body out of her mind, she reached the ladder and started upward.


	5. Chapter 5

The catwalks were only so useful. The C-Sec lockdown had shut and sealed all the maintenance hatches, so she couldn't easily just stick to them until she reached the bridge- and as the walks didn't extend over the bridge, she would have to drop down to hack the door and cross.

Still, they gave her some measure of a bird's eye view for a time. Keeping low and quiet, she crept along, watching for hostiles both on the walks themselves, as well as below her.

Then, the catwalk turned to the left, leading into a locked maintenance area that joined to another walk heading the wrong way. She'd covered more ground than she should have, but her momentary advantage was at its end. Turning the direction she needed to go, she descended a small ladder onto a maintenance ledge behind a large neon sign. Using it as cover, she carefully peeked around to surveille the area below, a short corridor on the nearest end to the bridge.

The corridor and its associated store fronts looked abandoned, save for the three mercs positioned in wait. One was near the bridge door, the other two watching the other entrance. A couple of kiosks and a handful of large power ads meant they would have adequate cover, even from above.

Watching them, she weighed her options. Neither of the weapons she had were silenced, nor did they have scopes. Sharp cluster of rifle fire to the face-plate of the one near the door would drop him, but that would leave the other two adequate time to get into cover, and then she was looking at a standoff…one she would lose, as they had more guns, more ammo, more armor, and visible grenades clipped to their belts.

Same sharp cluster to the face-plate of the one nearest to her would do the same- tear through his shields and drop him, but give the other two plenty of time to get to cover. Same standoff.

She could spray the first guy, and the guy near the door, but that wouldn't give her enough attrition to get through their shields and drop them- then she'd have _three_ mercs under cover and the standoff would end that much faster.

Her dark eyes glittered faintly from the shadows as she looked at everything she could see, anything she could use to take advantage of the situation.

The three mercs. The power ads. The grenades. The locked bridge door.

Shifting back behind the sign, she carefully accessed her omni-tool and worked quietly for a moment. She knew it was a risk, but it was one she had to take- and honestly, this gave her the best chance of getting out of here.

Successfully inputting the command she needed directly into the systems of this sector, she watched as a countdown displayed on her omni-tool.

_Fifteen seconds. Fourteen. Thirteen_…

Turning back around she put her rifle on full auto and edged the barrel up in a gap in the sign's design, focusing on the merc the furthest from her. He was standing next to a power ad, rifle in hand but lowered, looking around. She dialed in as close as she could without a scope, aiming for his belt.

_Just don't move, fucker_, she thought. She couldn't see her omni-tool countdown from this position, but she didn't need to. She was mentally counting down herself in time with it.

…_five, four, three-_

When she reached 'three' she opened fire, concentrating a furious spate directly at the merc's waist. Instantly all three startled, the one she was shooting stumbling back in surprise, trying to get his gun to bear on her. She kept up the attrition, watching as the other merc in the middle of the room ducked behind his power ad, the one near the door heading forward and opening fire.

It was clear he knew what general area she was firing from, but not exactly where. His shot tore into the far side of the sign, more glass and neon shattering . She resisted the urge to duck back and kept on the first merc.

Her countdown reached one.

No alarm rang, as she had disabled it, but a calm, almost disinterested VI voice started speaking as if it had. _Fire. There is a fire in section three. Please move in a calm and orderly fashion to your nearest emergency exit. Fire._

A moment later, plumes of white fire suppression jets shot down from the ceiling. Almost instantly, visibility below went to zero…but as the suppression powder was meant to sink and suffocate the fire, the area up where she was remained clear.

It wasn't that easy to stay directly on target, though- not with the merc half swallowed in a white fog, trying to get away from her shooting and find somewhere to duck down. Reaching out, he fumbled for the power ad he had been standing by, nearly tripped, then caught hold of it. Thus anchored, he would be able to work around it and get it between him and her, even being unable to see.

Too bad her gunfire chose that moment to do its job.

His barrier died with a snap of blue light, and her bullets found nothing preventing them from hitting his grenades.

The merc went up in a delightful flare of fire and body parts, the explosion rocking the entire room. A second blast followed almost instantly as the power ad's systems were devastated by the grenades. It went up as well, sending glass and electronics spraying wildly around the room.

Her perch swayed a bit in reaction to the blasts and her gunfire cut off for a moment as she tried to reorient.

She grinned without mirth when she saw one of the two explosions had taken out the second merc as well, leaving only the fellow who had been on the door. He was stumbling around, disoriented and possibly injured, trying to find some landmark in the slowly dispersing haze. The suppression systems were designed only to go off for a short amount of time, and had already stopped.

Regaining her balance, she took aim and hit him. Three bullets and he went down, sprawling face first onto the floor, his barriers lost in the two blasts.

Hacking into the fire suppression systems using her Spectre clearance would have alerted all the mercs to her current location, if they didn't already know. She had no time to linger and appreciate her work- she had to get the door open, and get across the bridge and to that shuttle before reinforcements could arrive in force.

Slinging the rifle over her shoulder, grimacing as the strap brushed hard against her bandaged wound, she grabbed a nearby ladder and slid down. The powder was settling but a good amount still hung in the air, and almost immediately she coughed. Waving a hand in front of her, she grabbed a grenade and an extra thermal clip, jamming them into her pockets before going to start on the door.

Then, a voice filled her ear again- and this time, it wasn't Brooks.

_{Shepard, where are you? Are you ok?}_

Liara sounded a bit out of breath, and worried. Without switching focus from what she was doing, Shepard coughed and then replied, the powder still annoying her lungs and sinuses.

"Tianlán, I'm here-"

_{Thank the Goddess! Joker told me what happened…I am on foot and heading your way now. Are you injured?}_

"Nothing more than I'd get from a few rounds of boxing," she said. "Be careful, Li- there's a group of mercs after me and they probably won't hesitate to take a pot shot at you too. I'm just across from Illustra Motors- if I can get there C-Sec can pick me up."

_{Understood, I will-}_

_{Hey! Hey! Who is this?}_ Brooks' voice came in, high pitched and alarmed. _{Who's on this channel? Get off this channel! Don't you know you're putting Captain Shepard's life at risk?}_

_{What? Who is_ this?}

"Li, that's SA Brooks. Brooks, Liara T'soni. Be nice or she'll kick your ass, and then _I _will."

_{Oh! She's…yes, gotcha. Sorry, but…she _is_. Doctor, they've got Captain Shepard's omni-tool hacked, and every time a communication comes over-}_

_{Shepard, Garrus here- are you all right? I heard you started quite the party.}_

_{Oh for Pete's sake! Captain, I can't keep you safe if-}_

"I'm here, Garrus."

_{I've got everyone heading your way. Don't have all the fun.}_

_{Captain! I have some flares if you would rather just set them off and-}_ Brooks bleated sarcastically, exasperated.

"I think we're past that Brooks, I'm about to set off a 'flare' anyway," Shepard said, and finished her work. "I got the door opened."

The lock turned from red to green, then the door parted and slid open, revealing the bridge across the gap. The moment it did, alarms began to bellow from every corner. Pausing only long enough to make sure it was clear, Del began to run.

_{Be careful, Captain- that would have drawn every merc in the area-}_

"_No shit!_ Just get me that damned shuttle!"

She pulled her rifle down into her hands as she ran. On the bridge, there was absolutely no cover. There were a thousand vantage points all around that would have a sniper's eye view of her. The barrier she'd nabbed would alert her to the first shot, maybe two depending on the caliber of weapon. After that, she was fucked.

She pelted as fast as her legs would carry her, weaving from one side of the bridge to the other in a random pattern, knowing full well that only an idiot ran in a straight line, unless they _wanted_ to die.

She was just over halfway across when a dozen lights bloomed in the ten or so yards in front of her feet- sniper lasers. Skidding back, she nearly fell, letting out a curse as the first guns opened fire. Bullets pitted and sang off the metal bridge, one spanking close enough to her leg she heard the whine and hiss as it ricocheted past. Her barriers flared a moment as one shot came even closer than that.

Del darted to the side, spraying random cover fire toward the area the lights had come from-a ledge just over the far end of the bridge. Several of the lights retreated as the snipers ducked back from the gunfire.

_{Shepard!}_

"_I'm taking fire on the bridge!"_ Shepard shouted, tossing another spray of gunfire upward as she regained her speed. "Dozen hostiles at least, and they-_FUCK!_"

She saw the tell-tale line of smoke jet suddenly off the ledge, angled downward. She lunged forward frantically as the rocket slammed into the bridge only a few yards behind her.

The explosion was loud only for a second, before the inside of her ears seemed to collapse on themselves with needle-sharp stabs of pain, swallowing sound along with it. She was tumbling in a cloud of haze and pelting debris, her grip on her rifle lost.

She felt like the beating she'd sustained falling out of Ryuusei had just been renewed seven fold, every inch of her body screaming at her as she finally got halted. Struggling to get her breath back, her head throbbing madly, ears aching, she knew it was move instantly or die.

Forcing herself to her feet she didn't bother looking for her rifle, instead fumbling the pistol from her waistband as she limped into the covered corridor next to Illustra Motors.

_{….pard…shhhhh….pard…!}_

Dimly, distantly, she heard a voice in her ear. A buzz began, transforming into a horrible ringing that throbbed along with her pulse.

_Thank God for synthetic ear drums_, some part of her thought. Had she still had her own, that blast would have ruptured them easily. As the ringing dialed up in volume, the voice itself got louder and clarified. It was Liara of course, and she sounded terrified.

_{Shepard! Goddess, please! Please answer me!}_

"Li," Del replied, her own voice little more than wet cotton to her own ears. "Li, I'm all right…"

_{Oh Goddess! I-I heard that blast and-}_

"They took out the bridge but I'm across. I'm nearly to Illustra. The mercs are on the level just above, they'll be swarming the dealership any minute. Brooks, is the shuttle there?"

_{N-Nearly, Captain. Four minutes.}_

"I may not _have_ four minutes, goddamn it! I've got a pistol and my own skin between me and easily a dozen hard-suited fucks with _goddamn grenade launchers! I need a fucking evac!"_

_{I-I-I'm sorry, I-I-I'm trying…}_ She sounded almost on the verge of tears.

_{Shepard, I am to the dealership,}_ Liara said breathlessly. _{Entering on the west side- I do not see you!}_

"I'm on the east," Del said, shaking her head sharply trying to get rid of the persistent ringing as she reached the dealership entrance. "Coming in now!"

Pistol up, she scanned over the showroom floor as she rushed in. At first she saw no one, then a lone figure appeared from around the corner, weaving through skycars as she crossed the show room floor. Lowering her pistol, Del slammed her fist into the door control behind her, closing and latching it.

"Shepard!" Liara let her biotics die, lowering her own weapon as she saw no one had followed Del in. Her eyes widened as she got closer. _"Goddess!"_

"I look worse than I am," Del said, tucking her pistol back into her waistband and heading to the nearest skycar, opening the driver's door. "Give me a hand."

The cars themselves were not an option for escape. All dealerships kept them locked down from any flight if they crossed out of the lot unauthorized- it took an employee's override to let one leave for a test drive.

Fortunately, she didn't need it to leave. Leaning in, she activated the engine and put the car into neutral. The hover field switched on and the car lifted a few inches off the ground, frictionless. Liara took hold of the other end and they carefully maneuvered it in front of the locked door Del had entered through. She switched it off and the car landed, further blocking it off.

"Won't keep them long, we need to get the other side blocked."

She started off then halted as Liara caught her shoulder. "No, stop."

"Li, there's not much time-"

"You are bleeding, badly," Liara said, already reaching into a pouch on her belt and removing a small pack of medi-gel, nodding toward Del's arm. The make-shift bandage she'd tied around it had loosened and become soaked. Blood was painted over her arm. In all the mess she hadn't even noticed.

Liara took the bandage off and quickly slathered the gel over the wound, sealing it. Her brows were tight, the look in her eyes betraying her true feelings as she worked, but she tried to keep things light.

"I see I cannot leave you to have dinner unescorted anymore."

"Joker did seem concerned that we didn't have parental supervision," Del replied with a faint smirk.

"It is a pity," Liara told her. "That looks to have been a nice outfit."

Del looked down at herself. Her once off-white top was now a marble of red, gray, and black, damp, torn and ripped to almost near immodesty. Her slacks were still wet and had become grimy as well, clinging to her legs in folds and wrinkles, as well torn in a few places.

"You know me…can't have nice things," Del said, echoing another sentiment of Joker's from the restaurant. Liara shook her head as she finished up with the sealant, and Del cupped her face a moment, before she turned back to the matter at hand. "C'mon, we have to get that other door blocked."

They headed across the floor. As they moved another skycar in front of the other door, Del touched her ear bud.

"Brooks, we're in the dealership and we've blocked off the doors. How's that shuttle?"

_{T-t-two more minutes at most,}_ she said. _{It's nearly there.}_

"Good, let us know." She looked at Liara as she came around the car. "Which way is the lot?"

"It is over there, through that gate," Li said, pointing. "The gate is locked and it is on a private encryption system limited to the dealership. We will not be able to hack it swiftly with our omni-tools."

"There'll be a console in the manager's office..." Shepard looked around, spotting it not too far away. "C'mon."

Reaching the office, she found that was locked too. Glass windows afforded them a shady view within, and as she peered past the glare, she saw huddled motion beneath the big wooden desk.

Aching, wound up on adrenaline, head and ears throbbing, Del's temper was at a fraying edge.

"Hang on," she said. Grimacing, she drew her pistol and aimed it at the window, but before she could pull the trigger, Liara reached out and gently urged her to lower it. Del scowled a bit, watching as Liara went to the window and rapped on it with a knuckle.

"Hello there," she said sweetly. "Would you mind opening the lot gate, pretty please?"

A moment passed, then a stubby little hand reached over the desk, fumbled a moment, and hit a button. Behind them, the gate unlatched and began to trundle open.

"Thank you," Liara called, then looked at Del as they headed that way. "Sometimes all you must do is ask nicely."

"Yeah, but it's not nearly as much fun as shooting things."

"Del."

"Or blowing them up."

"_Honestly."_

They reached the lot, the wind from the skycars and shuttles passing a couple hundred feet below stirring Del's mussed, wet hair. As Del looked out into the gap intently, trying to spot the C-Sec shuttle, Liara looked at her worriedly.

"Do we know anything about these mercs?"

"They have guns and don't like me," Del replied.

"That is _not_ helpful!"

"No fucking kidding, but that is pretty much all I know," Del told her with an irritated grump. "Two of the ones I managed to take down were human males. They're well armed and well armored. What did Joker tell you?"

"That you had been approached at the restaurant by an Alliance staff analyst who warned you someone was hacking your accounts and trying to kill you. That very shortly thereafter, these mercs showed up. He also told me you used him as bait."

"I did, and it got me a gun and him out of there," Del said. "Without it I would not be standing here right now and likely neither would he."

"I am not taking you to task for that, Shepard," Liara said. "I was on my way back from the _Normandy_ to the apartment when I received his communication. I headed immediately here, but if someone is trying to hack your accounts I may be able to-"

"There they are," Del said abruptly, pointing as a C-Sec vehicle appeared, heading their direction.

_{Shepard, I've reached the C-Sec lockdown,}_ Garrus said. _{Should be to you in a few minutes-}_

"We're evacing right now, Garrus," Del replied, the wind picking up and whipping her hair against her cheeks as the shuttle slowed and lowered toward them. She nodded at Liara, who activated her own omni-tool and began to work. "Message the others and get to the address that Liara is sending you now. I don't know if the docks or the _Normandy_ itself is being watched but this address should be clear."

_{Roger that.}_

She switched off her bud and looked up as the shuttle drew to a halt, hovering about a foot off the platform, the side door levering open.

The first thing she saw was familiar hard-suits-decidedly _not_ C-Sec.

The second was the mini-guns.

There was no time to call out a warning. Turning she lunged, tackling Liara around the waist just as the asari finished sending her message and looked up.

A rampage of bullets savaged across the lot right where they had been standing, tearing into the ground and then into the skycar they'd landed behind. Metal shredded and the skycar actually jumped a bit under the barrage, pushing closer to them.

Del and Liara scrambled to keep from getting smashed between that vehicle and the next, and found themselves trapped in a wedge formed by the two skycars and the drop-off past the edge of the lot. Crouching, Liara cast a barrier up overhead.

"What do we do? We have nowhere to go!"

"If we jump can you float us down?"

"I could if it were not for the traffic," she said. "We would be hit instantly. Even if we somehow got through it, all they would have to do is take the shuttle and pick us off right out of the air-floating is not nearly as fast as falling. How did they get a C-Sec shuttle?"

More gunfire, and the car to their left rocked again, glass and plastic shredding and raining into the air. The barrier Liara had put up kept any of it from pelting them, but it was only a matter of moments before the mini-guns would chew through their cover, or the mercs realized all they had to do was move the shuttle up a few feet and lob a grenade.

Then something shattered- a loud, large boom that was far too big to be a windscreen. They both looked up in time to see a big dark figure sailing out of the sky in a rain of broken glass, a roar rising above the even the mini-gun fire.

Nearly a thousand pounds of angry krogan in full armor landed on the front of the shuttle, the impact heavy enough to drive it down, slamming the front end into the lot. The back end struck a breath later, the engine skipping and whining as one of the drive blades bent and tore.

The mercs wheeled at the jolt, trying to recover their balance. One fell forward, his leg catching on the mini-gun brace, spilling him face first into the lot. Another one had managed to hold on to the mini-gun, swinging it drunkenly around as a hand reached in, grabbed it, and wrenched it right off its moors and out of his hands. The gun dropped behind the krogan as Wrex brought his shotgun around and planted the barrel against the merc's chest plate.

"_Surprise,"_ he said with a sneer, and pulled the trigger.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Stepping a bit left of canon again…cuz I can. Enjoy!

* * *

As Wrex vanished into the shuttle, his shotgun barking again, Liara and Shepard scrambled out of their cover. The merc who had fallen out of the shuttle was stumbling to his feet- then let out a cry of surprise as he was hit with a biotic blast and knocked off the platform.

Del went straight for her candy, scooping the mini-gun up off the ground and hefting it up, seating the buffer against her hip as Wrex reappeared in the shuttle door, hopping down to the platform.

"Wrex, are we glad to see you," Liara said.

"Hello to you too, Blue," he said happily. "I heard there was a party going on and I thought I'd invite myself."

"Good thing you did," Shepard said, craning her neck as she tried to assess any further threat that may be coming at them via skycar or the dealership. "If I'd known you were even on the Citadel you'd have been first on the guest list."

"I was here negotiating terms of krogan expansion with the Council. We know who these assholes are?"

"No idea as yet, they just…hang on, we've got incoming."

Liara threw up a barrier even as she turned around. Mercs were swarming into the dealership, at least a dozen of them. Aiming the mini-gun, Shepard sprayed a heavy rain through the glass walls separating the inside from the lot, forcing the mercs to take cover.

_{Shepard! I hear gunfire! Are you out? C-Sec should be there-}_ Brooks.

"No, the shuttle was crawling with mercs! We have more swarming our location!"

_{Wh-what? How is that-}_

"Bit busy!"

Gunfire had lit up from inside the dealership, forcing Shepard to move to one side and the improved cover of both Liara's barrier and the tattered skycars littering the lot. Wrex was laughing as he took advantage of some debris, pelting half a skycar into the dealership with his own biotics, before pursuing it with his shotgun blazing. Del turned her mini-gun fire on the other side, trying to keep those mercs pinned and give the krogan warlord some cover.

A new voice came over the comm_. {Captain, I've got a skycar, I'm on my way!}_

"Just hurry Joker!" she growled. The mini-gun was heated death, but that was exactly its problem…it was heating up fast, and from what she could tell still more mercs were showing up.

_How many of these fuckers _are_ there, goddamnit!_

Suddenly an engine whined. She turned her head just in time to see another skycar come sailing up from below, moving fast…_too_ fast to even get the mini-gun swung around toward it. Instead, she dropped the weighty weapon and tried to lunge out of the way.

The fender hit her hard in the side and shoulder, cracking into her head and sending a flash of white over her vision as she went careening over the lot. She heard Liara's voice shout, either in surprise or fear, then a heavy crunch of metal. She slid to a halt, pain blaring at her from everywhere. Her lungs seemed to refuse to work, and she struggled to take a breath. Laying here would mean death, she had no doubt of it, but each motion she took seemed sluggish, uncooperative, and slow. She meant to surge up to her feet but instead managed only hands and knees for a split second before slumping down again, wheezing.

The car that had hit her had crashed into another that was parked in the lot, near where Liara had been standing. Del tried to get up again, and everything started spinning, wobbling in and out of focus. This time she didn't even make it quite all the way to her hands and knees.

_Liara! I have to find Liara, is she hurt?_

Boots. Someone was coming. Del tried again, gritting her teeth, but barely had she started to rise than a hand scooped down and caught the front of what remained of her shirt in an iron grip. She was hauled straight up into the air.

She saw the merc only for a moment. It was the same armor the others had worn, but this merc was female judging by the curve of the breastplate.

There was no pause, no debate. In the same motion she hauled Del up and off her feet, the merc took another step forward, just one, and with an almost casual motion, pitched Shepard right off the skycar lot and into open air.

* * *

It was in Liara's throat to scream, but the sound strangled away before it could be formed. The crashing skycar had slammed into the one she had been standing near, throwing off her biotics and knocking her aside. A bit dazed but not hurt, she had gotten to her feet just in time to see the merc pick the weakly moving Del up off the ground and shove her off the lot.

The rest was pure instinct.

Turning herself, Liara ran the four longest steps in her life. Every sense suddenly seemed turned up to a fever pitch. She could feel each inch of her boot as it pressed onto the floor, gripping. She could feel every fiber of her muscles as they tensed and shifted, transferring their energy into her forward momentum. She was able to count the two heart beats that passed, each an echoing drum of determination.

Her final stride had her foot planted on the edge of the lot. She leaned forward, arms outspread almost gracefully as she jumped off the lot and into empty space.

Time resumed, speeding up to hyper-time as if to make up for the sluggish way it had just gone past. As Liara started to fall she tucked her hands and arms in close to the sides of her body, streamlining herself to fall as quickly as possible. Below two or three stories, she could see Shepard tumbling out of control.

A story below that were the streaming skycars, heavy Citadel traffic moving at a brisk and deadly pace.

Shepard's uncontrolled tumble meant she was falling slightly slower than Liara as she encountered more air resistance, but it was not slow enough. Del reached the first layer of traffic, narrowly missing one car. The driver, startled by the form that had suddenly dropped down in front of him, veered and tumbled into another, crashing. The cars behind started to swerve to each side to avoid the accident. Del plunged through toward the second layer of traffic as Liara reached the first, darting down in the open gap left by the crash.

Eyes streaming from the wind blowing into them, Liara could see little but blurs beneath her, and she kept blinking frantically, trying to focus. Del reached the second layer of traffic. It was clear she was going to hit the back end of a truck that was passing by, and Liara frantically reached out with a biotic blast, hoping to bump Del hard enough to get her out of the way. Being unable to see well enough to aim properly, she missed. Her biotics hit the truck instead, almost simultaneously with Del. The impact of the dark energy caused the back of the truck to dip almost the moment Del hit it, softening the impact and leading to her rolling right off it and into open air again, narrowly missing getting plowed directly by a second truck that was just behind the first. As she fell through the second line of traffic and toward the third, Liara reached the second, still moving fast. The second truck was now immediately below her. She let off another flare of biotics, this time buffering herself away from the vehicle and past it without hitting. She twisted a little, trying to recover her course. She was getting closer.

The third and final layer of traffic was only a couple hundred feet off the ground, made up of vehicles either coming in to land or joining the skyway from below. There were fewer cars in it, and they were not nearly as close together, but it was a sign they were very close to hitting the ground. If Del struck at the speed she was going, there would be no surviving it.

Liara tried to go even faster. Del passed through the few cars without incident, Liara darting through a moment later to nothing but the surprised blare of a horn. Below, she could see the lights and signs of shops growing rapidly closer, pedestrians moving along as they did their shopping or stopped in knots to gossip.

It was going to be incredibly close.

_Goddess, please…_

They had less than a hundred feet left when Liara drew close enough to the falling human woman to reach out toward her. Shepard did not seem to be conscious- at the very least, she made no sound and did not reach toward Liara in return.

Fifty feet. Sure now of her aim, Liara lit up her biotics, looping Del and immediately drawing her in, winding her arms around her tightly.

Thirty feet. Liara encased them both in a biotic bubble, reducing their mass. Their speed slowed slightly, but the mass reduction would not be enough to change their impact to the ground into a non-fatal one.

Fifteen feet.

Liara, wound tightly around her love, shouted a warning to those below and stuck out a hand, sending the strongest surge of biotic energy at the ground as she could manage. Started pedestrians looked upward, faces gaping as they darted out of the way. The biotics hit the walkway and swelled back toward them, the opposing kinetic energy slowing them down drastically as it struck them. Keeping the flow going, she slowed them even more as they drew closer to the ground, until she was able to set them down almost feather soft.

Shaking hard, her biotics died, and for a moment Liara could do nothing but lay there and try and catch her breath, still clinging to Shepard as tightly as she could. The gawking pedestrians were starting to close in around them.

"Are you ok?" a voice asked tentatively. Ignoring him, Liara loosened her hold, frantically looking at Shepard.

"Del? _Del!_"

"Hey…Blue…" Shepard said weakly, sluggishly, looking up at her with half-lidded dark eyes, one corner of her mouth lifting in a thin but genuine lopsided grin. "Can we…do that again?"

"_Oh damn you!" _Liara replied with a gasp of relief. She hugged her tightly a moment, not even bothering to fight the tears that were painting her cheeks- not all of which were from the wind of their descent. Shepard gingerly managed to push herself up into a sit, but as she gasped in pain through her grit teeth Liara tightened her hold again.

"No, no, do _not_ move. We need to get you to Huerta-"

"No…"

Liara noticed the crowd abruptly. Blue fire lit up in a bubble around them, startling the gawkers and physically forcing them back a few paces. "_Do not come near us! _ she said furiously.

She didn't know who she could and could not trust. Until they knew who the mercs were, every unfamiliar face was going to be a danger. She could not take the chance that a hired assassin was among the crowd, or even that the mercs themselves would not appear any moment. Leaving the bubble in place though it was taxing on her already weakened energy, she looked back at Del.

"C-can you walk? We need to get out of the open-"

"I think so…everything's spinning…"

Moving gingerly, Liara started to help Del to her feet, keeping her arms around her. As she got upright Del suddenly wobbled and nearly fell over again, giving a woozy gasp as she did so. Liara caught her, shaking.

"'m ok-"

"You need medical attention! We-"

The crowd started to disperse again as a skycar suddenly lowered toward them. Liara reached automatically for the empty holster at her waist and as her hold on Shepard loosened, the injured human woman wobbled again. Liara caught her awkwardly, the pair half falling to their knees, and glared toward the car.

If it was the mercs again she would fight them with everything she had. They would have to kill her if they wanted any chance at getting near Shepard again.

Then the car door swung open, and Wrex leapt out, an unfamiliar human woman in an Alliance uniform on his heels. Inside, Liara could see it was Joker driving.

Wrex parted the loose crowd like a ship breaking through ice, not hesitating to knock some of them aside if they didn't get out of the way fast enough.

"Blue?"

"Quickly, we need to get her out of here," she said, letting her biotics die as she tried to get Del back to her feet again. "We need to get her to Huerta-"

"No Huerta," Shepard said, her voice sluggish but tense with irritation.

"Shepard-"

"_No hospital_," she insisted. "Could be waiting there…"

Wrex reached their side and wound an arm around Del, hefting her off her feet. Liara trotted at his side as he carried the captain back to the car. The Alliance uniform was near the open door, gaping at them.

"Is she-"

"Who are you?" Liara demanded furiously, making the woman jump and shrink back a little.

"I-I-I-"

"That's Brooks," Wrex said. "C'mon Blue, get in. Now's not the time for a blood rage."

Liara climbed in the back of the car, Wrex setting Del on the seat next to her before climbing in the front next to Joker. Brooks wedged herself in as best she could, and Joker lifted off.

"Jesus, Boss…" he said, looking around as he got the skycar airborne.

"I'm all right," Shepard said, then grimaced, hand plastered to her side.

"You have a loose definition of all right."

"Shepard, we need to get you to a doctor," Liara said, fussing over her in worry.

"Mercs will be waiting at Huerta," Shepard said wearily. "Same for any other clinic or hospital on the Citadel. We can't trust them."

"Back to the _Normandy_, perhaps?" Brooks asked in a small voice.

"No medical staff on board," Shepard said with a small shake of her head. "Joker, take us to the apartment."

"The _apartment?_ No offense, boss, but this doesn't look like something you can just walk off-"

"Nan's there, she's a registered nurse," Del told him. "Garrus and the others should be heading there. Get them a message, see if he can't pick up Helen on the way."

"I can contact C-Sec-" Brooks said, already lifting her omni-tool.

"_No!_" Shepard said, a bit more firmly than she intended, making her grimace again. "Ugh…no. No C-Sec. Not yet. They got a damned C-Sec shuttle and intercepted communications already. I'm not handing them my location on a fucking platter, not again. We don't talk to anyone but the crew, dong ma?"

Brooks hesitated, then nodded, lowering her hand from her omni-tool. "Yes, that's probably wise."

"You hurt?" Del asked, looking at Liara.

"I am fine. Just a few bruises and I need to recover my biotics."

"That was a hell of a jump," Del said. "You could have been killed."

"You _would_ have been," Liara said, brows knit. "You would have done the same for me."

Del lifted one bruised, blood-stained hand and gently touched her cheek a moment, before she cleared her throat, and looked to the front. "Wrex? How about you? You hurt?"

"No," he said. "Gave those damned mercs something to remember though."

"How did you get out of there?"

"Beat on them until Joker showed up with the skycar," he said. "Once you two decided to go flying the mercs started leaving anyway."

"They really are just after _me_, aren't they?" Del said.

"I know that look," Liara said. "Do not even think it, Shepard. You are not going to disappear on your own in order to keep us safe."

"Blue's right. We stick together," Wrex said.

"Wrex-"

"Don't be an ass, Del," he said, looking back at her angrily. "Time and time again, you've stuck your balls on the fire for us. Time to return the favor."

Despite her pain and half-focus, Del still managed to give him a dry look. "Roasting your balls, just for me Wrex? That's sweet."

He laughed.

* * *

Del was beyond grateful the apartment was a penthouse, with its own landing pad for shuttles and skycars that did not require them going through the lobby or passing through any other part of the building. Her head was still spinning and everything in her wanted to just close her eyes and sleep, but she'd been hurt often enough to know that was a very bad idea. As Liara helped her out of the car Shepard tried to walk, gritting her teeth against the pain, determined. Wrex didn't give her much of a chance. Liara gave him a look from where she was trying to support her and the krogan swooped her up to carry her again.

"Goddamn it, Wrex-" Shepard said. "Stop the…fucking _spinning…_"

Barely had he straightened with her in his arms than she went limp, passing out. Liara broke into a run, opening the door to the apartment, already calling for Nan.

"What is it?" Nancy called from downstairs, sounding half asleep.

"Wrex, take her into that room there," Liara said, pointing, then called back toward Nan. "Get a medical kit, anything you have. Shepard has been hurt."

Wrex carried her into the master bedroom as Brooks rushed downstairs to meet Nan. Joker limped after them into the bedroom.

Liara darted into the master bath, tearing some towels off the rack and grabbing a first aid kit off the wall. As Wrex laid Del down she hurried to her side to start tending to her.

"What happened?" Nancy asked as she bustled in, dressed in a bathrobe and carrying another first aid kit. "What- oh good heavens!"

She hurried over, dumping the kit beside Liara's and activating her omni-tool. "What happened to her?" she asked as she started the scan.

"First she was shot at," Joker said. "Then she fell through an aquarium and down the side of a building. Then I think there was a lot more shooting and a few explosions, then what…a bridge blew up?"

"Then she got into a firefight with a bunch of mercs pretending to be C-Sec, got hit by a skycar, and fell about a hundred more stories through traffic," Wrex added.

Nancy gaped at them. "Now is not the time to tease an old woman!"

"Sadly, they are not teasing you, Nan. That is exactly what happened," Liara said. Nancy stared at her a moment, then back at her scan.

"She has a hairline skull fracture and a severe concussion. More contusions than I can count, soft tissue trauma, six fractured ribs, easily a dozen lacerations...this one on her arm is the worst. She's in shock and her brain is swelling from the concussion. She needs a hospital."

"Unfortunately hospitals are out of the picture," Joker said. Nan looked at him angrily.

"And why would that be?"

"Someone's trying to kill her," Wrex said. "They infiltrated the restaurant where she was having dinner, _and_ C-Sec. They have the numbers and weapons of a small army. They'll have eyes on every hospital and clinic across the Citadel. We can't risk it. Garrus should be bringing Chakwas soon."

"God in His heaven," Nan said, closing her eyes a moment before opening them again. "Then for now we're all she has. Liara, we're going to have to strip her down. Gentlemen, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Wrex and Joker headed out, and Brooks started to follow. As she did Nan looked up at her.

"Not you dear."

"S-sorry?"

"Until Helen gets here we're going to need what hands we can get."


End file.
